The present invention relates generally to the boating field and, more particularly, to a boat allowing full performance and improved operation in shallow water even over an extended period of time.
Sport fishermen often must traverse an expansive area of relatively shallow water in order to reach productive fishing areas that are also often located in this shallow water. The depth of this water does not always allow safe operation of an outboard motor. Not only may the propeller of the motor become bent or chipped from hitting the bottom, but the lower unit of the outboard motor could, for example, also suffer severe damage. This not only may lead to the inconvenience of having to paddle back to the dock, but to exceedingly costly repairs as well.
In order to avoid the possibility of such a calamity, it has been necessary in the past to either: (1) avoid fishing in these productive shallow water areas altogether; (2) approach these areas only by land, an alternative often impossible in remote regions; or (3) tilt the outboard motor out of the water and utilize an electric trolling motor for power.
A number of advances have been made in the electric trolling motor art in recent years, but these motors still suffer from the limited power available from storage batteries. As such, electric trolling motors provide acceptable operation for only short time periods and over limited areas.
Thus, on any attempt at crossing large expanses of shallow water as discussed above, the batteries become weak and the electric trolling motor ineffective. Further, it should be appreciated that, for example, during fishing tournaments time is critical. Under these circumstances, the electric trolling motor simply cannot power the boat fast enough to reach the desired remote fishing location and still allow adequate time for fishing.
In the past outboard motor mounting brackets have been developed that allow vertical movement of the motor relative to the boat transom. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,232,627 to Glenn et al and 4,482,330 to Cook disclose specific examples of such devices. These devices or systems were designed to allow the boat operator to adjust the "trim" of the boat under varying speed and/or load conditions for maximum efficiency and performance. They also allow some adjustment for boat operation in shallow water.
Specifically, by raising the motor, the boat may be operated in more shallow water with less of a chance of grounding and damaging the prop and motor. Still, however, it should be appreciated that motor operation is somewhat limited.
With the motor raised, the boat hull effectively blocks the cooling water intake port of the engine from a straight flow-through stream of water. Thus, at medium speeds and above, the intake port contacts the water only intermittently and engine cooling suffers. As such, outboard motor operation can continue only at relatively slow speeds for limited periods of time in order to prevent motor overheating.
The need is, therefore, clearly identified for a boat design allowing full and safe operation of an outboard motor even in shallow water for extended periods of time.